Patient support apparatus having vital signs monitoring and alerting

ABSTRACT

A patient support apparatus includes a sensor capable of detecting vital signs, setting acceptable limits for the vital signs, and includes structures for monitoring the vital signs and providing local and/or remote indications to caregivers if the vital signs fall outside of acceptable limits.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/442,233, which was filed Jan. 4,2017, and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

The present application also claims priority 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) ofEuropean Community Design Application No. EM003817477 filed on Mar. 22,2017.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure is related to patient support apparatuses havingalerting capabilities. More specifically, the present disclosure isrelated to patient support apparatuses that include sensors formonitoring vital signs and structures for alerting caregivers when thevital signs are unacceptable.

Monitoring physiological parameters of a person supported by a personsupport apparatus is an ongoing challenge. Space constraints in thepatient's vicinity provide opportunities for effective use of technologyto monitor the patient without adding to the number of devices in thevicinity of the patient. While several systems and methods exist forsensing physiological signals of a person supported by a person supportapparatus, opportunity exists for continued development in this area.

Still further, a need exists for a system capable of providing acaregiver, such as a nurse, information regarding vital signs of apatient without requiring the caregiver to disturb the patient.

SUMMARY

The present application discloses one or more of the features recited inthe appended claims and/or the following features which, alone or in anycombination, may comprise patentable subject matter:

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a detection andnotification system for a patient support apparatus comprises a sensordetecting a vital sign of a patient; a controller operable to receive asignal from the sensor indicative of the vital sign of the patient, thecontroller operable to compare the vital sign to pre-established limitsto determine whether the vital sign is within an acceptable range; and anotification system operable to respond to commands from the controllerto provide an indication as to whether the vital sign is within theacceptable range or that alarm condition exists, the indicationdiscernible by a user spaced apart from the patient support apparatusthat the detection notification system is associated.

In some embodiments, the sensor simultaneously detects a first vitalsign and a second vital sign.

In some embodiments, the detection notification system includes aplurality of sensors simultaneously detecting a vital sign of thepatient.

In some embodiments, the plurality of sensors each detects both a firstvital sign and a second vital sign.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to receive a signal fromthe patient support apparatus indicative of the position of a patientsupported on the patient support apparatus, the controller operable toutilize the position of the patient to determine whether to disregardthe vital sign information from one of the plurality of sensors.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to prompt a user tosuspend the operation of the notification system based on the positionof the patient.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to receive a signal fromthe patient support apparatus indicative of the position of a patientsupported on the patient support apparatus, and further operable toprompt the user to suspend operation of the notification system based onthe position of the patient.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to receive signalsindicative of the position of components of the patient supportapparatus and to determine the acceptable range of the vital sign based,at least in part, on the position of at least one of the components ofthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to communicate with anelectronic medical record system to receive information from theelectronic medical record system indicative of a medical history of apatient supported on the patient support apparatus and to determine theacceptable range of the vital sign based, at least in part, on thepatient's medical history.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to utilize the medicalhistory of the patient to perform an algorithm that analyzes the vitalsign to determine that the patient is likely to experience an adverseevent and to provide a notification discernible by a user that thelikelihood of the adverse event has reached a threshold.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a patient supportapparatus comprises at least one sensor, the at least one sensoroperable to provide a signal indicative of a vital sign of a patientsupported on the patient support apparatus, and a notification systemcoupled to the sensor, the notification system operable to processsignals from the sensor which provide an indication of a vital sign todetermine a vital sign, compare the vital sign to a predefinedacceptable limit, and, if the vital sign deviates from the establishedacceptable limit, provide a visual indication of the deviation byilluminating a first iconic representation of vital signs in a firstmanner, if the status of the particular component does not deviate fromthe established acceptable operating condition for that component,illuminating the first iconic representation in a second manner.

In some embodiments, the notification system is operable to project thefirst iconic representation to a surface spaced apart from the patientsupport apparatus.

In some embodiments, the first iconic representation is simultaneouslyilluminated on a surface of the patient support apparatus and projectedonto the surface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the first iconic representation is projected to thesurface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus by a projectorlocated on the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, illuminating the first iconic representation in afirst manner comprises illuminating the first iconic representation in afirst color and illuminating the first iconic representation in a secondmanner comprises illuminating the first iconic representation in asecond color.

In some embodiments, providing the visual indication of the deviationincludes simultaneously illuminating a first iconic representation ofthe component on a surface of the patient support apparatus in a firstcolor and projecting the first iconic representation of the component onthe surface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus in the firstcolor.

In some embodiments, providing the visual indication of the lack of adeviation includes simultaneously illuminating a first iconicrepresentation of the component on a surface of the patient supportapparatus in a second color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the second color. In some embodiments,providing the visual indication of the deviation includes simultaneouslyilluminating a first iconic representation of the component on a surfaceof the patient support apparatus in a first color and projecting thefirst iconic representation of the component on the surface spaced apartfrom the patient support apparatus in the first color.

In some embodiments, providing the visual indication of the lack of adeviation includes simultaneously illuminating a first iconicrepresentation of the component on a surface of the patient supportapparatus in a second color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the second color.

In some embodiments, the surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus is the surface of a floor, the first iconic representationbeing projected to a position that is not directly below any portion ofthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus further comprises aframe, a barrier supported by the frame and movable vertically relativeto the frame, a control system, and a user interface.

In some embodiments, a visual indication of the status of a patientposition is provided at a foot end of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, a visual indication of the status of the patientposition is illuminated on a floor under the foot end of the patientsupport apparatus.

In some embodiments, a visual indication of the status of the patientposition is provided by an illuminated grip on the barrier.

In some embodiments, a visual indication of the status of a condition ofat least one feature of the patient support apparatus is provided at afoot end of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, a visual indication of the status of a condition ofat least one feature of the patient support apparatus is provided byilluminating an indication on the floor under the foot end of thepatient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes structureswhich permit illumination of iconic representations on the floor beneaththe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the sensor is removably supported on the frame ofthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the frame is configured to support the sensor inmultiple mounting locations.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus comprises multiplesensors, each sensor mounted at a different location on the frame.

In some embodiments, the control system is operable to detect a locationof a patient and modify the operation of the notification system todisregard at least one of the sensors based on the patient location.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes two sensorsmounted on a first frame member and one sensor mounted on a second framemember that is movable relative to the first frame member.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus further comprises amattress supported on the frame and the sensor is located internally inthe mattress.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a patient supportapparatus comprises a notification system operable of projecting indiciaindicative of a condition associated with the patient support apparatus,the notification system including a light source and a projectorassembly, the projector assembly operable to receive light from thelight source and direct the light through a lens having a pre-distortednegative of the indicia such that when the light passes through thelens, an undistorted image is projected onto a surface spaced apart fromthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the projector assembly directs the light at aprojection angle that is not orthogonal to the surface spaced apart fromthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the pre-distortion of the negative of the indiciais adjusted to correspond to the projection angle.

In some embodiments, the notification system includes a plurality oflight sources and a plurality of projector assemblies, each projectorassembly associated with a respective light source, each projectorassembly operable to receive light from the respective light source anddirect the light through a lens having a pre-distorted negative of theindicia such that when the light passes through the lens, an undistortedimage is projected onto a surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus, each projector assembly projecting a respective indicia, eachindicia being indicative of a different condition.

In some embodiments, a first indicia is indicative of the condition of apatient vital sign and a second indicia is indicative of a status of acomponent of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, each respective projection assembly projects at aprojection angle that is not orthogonal to the surface spaced apart fromthe patient support apparatus, the pre-distortion of the negativeassociated we each respective projection assembly being adjusted tocorrespond to the projection angle of the particular projectionassembly.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, patient supportapparatus comprises a controller, the controller coupled to memory whichstores a serial number for the particular patient support apparatus, areplaceable component, the replaceable component including memory whichstores a serial number for the replaceable component, and a userinterface, wherein the controller is operable to execute a process whichverify that the patient support apparatus is properly authorized toexecute the functionality of the replaceable component by detecting thepresence of the replaceable component, evaluating the serial number ofone of the patient support apparatus and the replaceable component andprovides an indication of the status of the authorization at the userinterface.

In some embodiments, if the controller determines that the functionalityof the replaceable component is not properly authorized, the controlleris operable to prompt a user to enter an authorization code beforeexecuting the functionality of the replaceable component at the userinterface.

In some embodiments, the authorization code is based, at least in part,on the serial number of the replaceable component.

In some embodiments, the authorization code is based, at least in part,on the serial number of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the authorization code is based, at least in part,on the serial number of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the controller monitors for the presence of areplaceable component and regularly compares the serial number of thereplaceable component with the serial number of the authorizedreplaceable component to determine if a different replaceable componenthas been substituted.

In some embodiments, if the controller determines that a replaceablecomponent has been substituted, the controller disables thefunctionality of the replaceable component and prompts the user to enteran authorization code for the substituted replaceable component at theuser interface.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus comprises a detectionand notification system for monitoring at least one vital sign of apatient supported on the patient support apparatus and the replaceablecomponent is a vital sign sensor.

In some embodiments, the detection and notification system comprisesmultiple sensors, each sensor being monitored by the controller todetermine that the patient support apparatus has been authorized for theparticular sensor.

In some embodiments, the controller provides an indication of the statusof the authorization at the user interface.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a patient supportapparatus comprises a detection and notification system for detecting atleast one vital sign of a patient supported on the patient supportapparatus, the detection and notification system including a sensordetecting a vital sign of the patient, the sensor not in contact withthe patient; a controller operable to receive a signal from the sensorindicative of the vital sign of the patient, the controller operable tocompare the vital sign to pre-established limits to determine whetherthe vital sign is within an acceptable range; and a notification systemoperable to respond to commands from the controller to provide anindication as to whether the vital sign is within the acceptable rangeor that alarm condition exists, the indication discernible by a userspaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the sensor detects multiple vital signs.

In some embodiments, the sensor simultaneously detects multiple vitalsigns.

In some embodiments, the sensor comprises a plurality of sensors.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus is configured topermit a particular sensor to be positioned in any one of a number ofpositions on the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to disregard the signalof a sensor.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to disregard the signalof a sensor if the controller determines that a patient is not properlypositioned to be monitored by the sensor.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes a userinterface in communication with the controller, the user interfaceoperable to provide an indication of the status of at least one vitalsign of the patient.

In some embodiments, the sensor simultaneously detects multiple vitalsigns and the patient support apparatus includes a user interface incommunication with the controller, the user interface operable toprovide an indication of the status of each detected vital sign of thepatient.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to allow a user to setalarm limits for a detected vital sign.

In some embodiments, the notification system operable to respond tocommands from the controller to provide an indication as to whether asignal has been lost from a sensor.

In some embodiments, the controller is operable to monitor the signalfrom the sensor and determine if an adverse event is likely to occurbased on the signal, independently of whether the signal exceeds apre-set limit.

In some embodiments, the notification system is operable to provide anindication of the likelihood of the adverse event.

In some embodiments, the notification system is adjustable to providelocal indications of a condition, remote indications of a condition, orboth local and remote indications of a condition.

In some embodiments, the notification system is operable to prompt auser to either accept or rejection questionable data.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes a mattressand a sensor is positioned in the mattress.

In some embodiments, the controller determines whether a particularsensor has been authorized for use on the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the controller prompts a user to enter anauthorization code if a particular sensor has not previously beenauthorized for use on the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the controller continuously monitors to confirmthat a particular sensor has been authorized for use on the patientsupport apparatus and if a new sensor is substituted, controller promptsa user to enter an authorization code if a particular sensor has notpreviously been authorized for use on the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, an alert limit for a vital sign is determinedautomatically by the controller.

In some embodiments, the controller determines an alert limit for avital sign based on patient medical history information from anelectronic medical record system in communication with the controller.

In some embodiments, the controller determines an alert limit for avital sign based on based on a bed condition.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus comprises a siderailwith a grip and the notification system provides an indication as towhether the vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarmcondition exists at the grip by illuminating the grip in a colorassociated with a status of the vital sign.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes atouchscreen and the notification system provides an indication as towhether the vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarmcondition exists at a touchscreen.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes indicatorpanel and the notification system provides an indication as to whetherthe vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarm conditionexists at the indicator panel.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes a link to anexternal nurse call system and the notification system provides anindication as to whether the vital sign is within the acceptable rangeor that alarm condition exists through the link.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus includes a projectionsystem for projecting indicia to a surface spaced apart from the patientsupport apparatus and the notification system provides an indication asto whether the vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarmcondition exists by projecting indicia associated with the status of thevital sign on the surface.

In some embodiments, the projection system includes a light source and aprojector assembly, the projector assembly operable to receive lightfrom the light source and direct the light through a lens having apre-distorted negative of the indicia such that when the light passesthrough the lens, an undistorted image is projected onto a surfacespaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the projector assembly directs the light at aprojection angle that is not orthogonal to the surface spaced apart fromthe patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the pre-distortion of the negative of the indiciais adjusted to correspond to the projection angle.

In some embodiments, the notification system includes a plurality oflight sources and a plurality of projector assemblies, each projectorassembly associated with a respective light source, each projectorassembly operable to receive light from the respective light source anddirect the light through a lens having a pre-distorted negative of theindicia such that when the light passes through the lens, an undistortedimage is projected onto a surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus, each projector assembly projecting a respective indicia, eachindicia being indicative of a different condition.

In some embodiments, a first indicia is indicative of the condition of apatient vital sign and a second indicia is indicative of a status of acomponent of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, each respective projection assembly projects at aprojection angle that is not orthogonal to the surface spaced apart fromthe patient support apparatus, the pre-distortion of the negativeassociated we each respective projection assembly being adjusted tocorrespond to the projection angle of the particular projectionassembly.

Additional features, which alone or in combination with any otherfeature(s), including those listed above and those listed in the claims,may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a patient support apparatus according tothe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sensor capable of detecting apatient's vital signs without contacting the patient;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1with portions removed, FIG. 3 showing the potential of positioning thesensor of FIG. 2 in various locations on the patient support apparatus;

FIGS. 4-11 are diagrammatic representations of screens displayed on agraphical user interface of a patient support apparatus;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a siderail of the patient support apparatus ofFIG. 1 including an enlarged view of a diagrammatic representation of ascreen displayed on a graphical user interface of the patient supportapparatus;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a portion of the control system of thepatient support apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic representation of a screen displayed on agraphical user interface of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic representation of a portion of the patientsupport apparatus along with a related flowchart;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the front side of a head deck sectionof the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the back side of a head deck section ofthe patient support apparatus with the sensor of FIG. 2 mounted;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting of the sensor of FIG.2 to the head deck section of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a mattress including asensor for monitoring a patient's vital signs mounted to the interior ofthe mattress;

FIGS. 20-27 are diagrammatic representations of screens displayed on agraphical user interface of a patient support apparatus;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of the back of the sensor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 29 is a diagrammatic representation of a screen displayed on agraphical user interface of a patient support apparatus, the screenuseable by a user to enter a license key for the sensor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 30 is a diagrammatic representation of a process by which aheartrate and respiration rate limits for a vital signs monitoringsystem are automatically set by using information from an electronicmedical records system and/or data from the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 31A-31C is a flowchart depicting the process by which the operationof the vital signs monitoring system may be enabled upon start-up orchanging of a sensor of the vital signs monitoring system;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a portion of a patient supportapparatus having a notification system that projects images on the floorsurface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 33 is a diagrammatic representation of the scatter of imagesprojected from the foot end of a patient support apparatus, the scatterresulting in variable projection angles in a first plane;

FIG. 34 is a diagrammatic representation of the scatter of imagesprojected from the foot end of a patient support apparatus, the scatterresulting in variable projection angles in a second plane;

FIG. 35 is a diagrammatic representation of the distortion of an imagewhen projected along a line of projection that is acute to the imageplane, the image of FIG. 35 distorted in two directions;

FIG. 36 is an exploded assembly view of the foot deck of a the patientsupport apparatus of FIG. 1 illustrating the arrangement of componentsof a portion of the notification system of the patient supportapparatus;

FIG. 37 is a perspective view of a projector assembly of thenotification system;

FIG. 38 is a cross-section al view of the projector assembly of FIG. 37;

FIG. 39 is a diagrammatic illustration of an undistorted negative usedin a lens of one of the projectors of the notification system;

FIG. 40 is a diagrammatic illustration of an pre-distorted negative usedin a lens of one of the projectors of the notification system, thepre-distortion being arranged to compensate for the projection angle ofthe particular projector such that the projected image is clear at thefloor or another image plane;

FIG. 41 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of a head deck of apatient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with our design;

FIG. 42 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 41;

FIG. 44 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 41;

FIG. 45 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 41;

FIG. 46 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 41;

FIG. 47 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 41;

FIG. 48 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 41;

FIG. 49 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 50 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 51 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 52 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 49;

FIG. 53 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 49;

FIG. 54 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 55 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 56 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 57 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 58 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 57;

FIG. 59 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 57;

FIG. 60 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 57;

FIG. 61 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 57;

FIG. 62 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 57;

FIG. 63 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 57;

FIG. 64 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 57;

FIG. 65 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 66 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 67 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 68 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 65;

FIG. 69 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 65;

FIG. 70 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 71 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 72 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 73 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 74 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 73;

FIG. 75 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 73;

FIG. 76 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 73;

FIG. 77 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 73;

FIG. 78 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 73;

FIG. 79 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 73;

FIG. 80 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 73;

FIG. 81 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 82 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 81;

FIG. 83 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 81;

FIG. 84 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 81;

FIG. 85 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 81;

FIG. 86 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 81;

FIG. 87 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 81;

FIG. 88 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 81;

FIG. 89 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 90 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 89;

FIG. 91 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 89;

FIG. 92 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 89;

FIG. 93 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 89;

FIG. 94 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 89;

FIG. 95 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 89;

FIG. 96 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 89;

FIG. 97 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a head deckof a patient support apparatus having a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 98 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 97;

FIG. 99 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 97;

FIG. 100 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 97;

FIG. 101 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 97;

FIG. 102 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 97;

FIG. 103 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 97;

FIG. 104 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 97;

FIG. 105 is a front perspective view of a sensor in accordance with ourdesign;

FIG. 106 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 105;

FIG. 107 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 105;

FIG. 108 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 105;

FIG. 109 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 105;

FIG. 110 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 105;

FIG. 111 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 105;

FIG. 112 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 105;

FIG. 113 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a sensorin accordance with our design;

FIG. 114 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 114;

FIG. 115 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 114;

FIG. 116 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 114;

FIG. 117 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 114;

FIG. 118 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 114;

FIG. 119 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 114;

FIG. 120 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 114;

FIG. 121 is a front perspective view of a head deck of a patient supportapparatus in accordance with our design;

FIG. 122 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 121;

FIG. 123 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 121;

FIG. 124 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 121;

FIG. 125 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 121;

FIG. 126 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 121;

FIG. 127 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 121;

FIG. 128 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 121;

FIG. 129 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a headdeck of a patient support apparatus in accordance with our design;

FIG. 130 is a front elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 129;

FIG. 131 is a rear elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 129;

FIG. 132 is a side elevation view of the right side of the embodiment ofFIG. 129;

FIG. 133 is a side elevation view of the left side of the embodiment ofFIG. 129;

FIG. 134 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 129;

FIG. 135 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 129;

FIG. 136 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 129;

FIG. 137 is a front view of another embodiment of a head deck of apatient support apparatus in accordance with our design; and

FIG. 138 is a front view of another embodiment of a head deck of apatient support apparatus in accordance with our design.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be noted that the broken lines shown in the designs of FIGS.41-138 depict environmental subject matter and form no part of thecurrently claimed design.

Referring to FIG. 1, a patient support apparatus 10 is illustrativelyembodied as a hospital bed 10. The hospital bed 10 includes anintegrated vital signs monitoring system 100 including a sensor 102mounted to a deck section of the hospital bed 10 as shown in FIG. 3. Theview shown in FIG. 1 is generally taken from a position that is orientedat the left side, foot end of the hospital bed 10. For purposes oforientation, the discussion of the hospital bed 10 will be based on theorientation of a patient supported on the hospital bed 10 in a supineposition. Thus, the foot end 12 of the hospital bed 10 refers to the endnearest the patient's feet when the patient is supported on the hospitalbed 10 in the supine position. The hospital bed 10 has a head end 14opposite the foot end 12. A left side 16 refers to the patient's leftwhen the patient is lying in the hospital bed 10 in a supine position.The right side 18 refers to the patient's right. When reference is madeto the longitudinal length of the hospital bed 10, it refers a directionthat is represented by the lines that generally extend between the headend 14 and foot end 12 of the hospital bed 10. Similarly, lateral widthof the hospital bed 10 refers to a direction that is represented by thelines that generally extend between the left side 16 and right side 18.

The hospital bed 10 includes a base frame 20 which supports a liftsystem 22. The lift system 22 engages the base and an upper frame 24such that the lift system 22 moves the upper frame 24 verticallyrelative to the base frame 20. The lift system 22 includes a head endlinkage 27 and a foot end linkage 29. Each of the linkages 27 and 29 areindependently operable and may be operated to cause the hospital bed 10to move into a tilt position which is when the head end 14 of the upperframe 24 is positioned lower than the foot end 12 of the upper frame 24.The hospital bed 10 may also be moved to a reverse tilt position withthe foot end 12 of the upper frame 24 is positioned lower than the headend 14 of the upper frame 24.

The upper frame 24 supports a load frame 26. The load frame 26 supportsa head deck 28 which is movable relative to the load frame 26. The loadframe 26 also supports an articulated seat deck 30 (seen in FIG. 3),also movable relative to the load frame 26 and a fixed seat deck 32(also seen in FIG. 3). Also supported from the load frame 26 is a footdeck 34 that is articulated and moveable relative to the load frame 26.The foot deck 34 in the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1 provides forpowered pivoting of the foot deck 34 and manual extension and retractionof the foot deck 34 to vary the length of the foot deck 34. In otherembodiments, powered pivoting of the foot deck 34 may be omitted and therelated movement may be caused manually, or follow movement of thearticulated seat deck 30. In addition, in some embodiments, extensionand retraction of the foot deck 34 may be powered by an actuator.

The foot deck 34 includes a first portion 36 and a second portion 38,which moves relative to the first portion 36 to vary the size of thefoot deck 34. The second portion 38 moves generally longitudinallyrelative to the first portion 36 to vary the longitudinal length of thefoot deck 34 and, thereby, the longitudinal length of the hospital bed10.

A foot panel 40 is supported from the second portion 38 and extendsvertically from an upper surface 42 of the second portion 38 to form abarrier at the foot end 12 of the hospital bed 10. A head panel 44 ispositioned on an upright structure 46 of the base frame 20 and extendsvertically to form a barrier at the head end 14 of the hospital bed 10.A left head siderail 48 is supported from the head deck 28 and ismoveable between a raised position shown in FIG. 1 and a loweredposition as is known in the art. A right head siderail 50 is alsomoveable between the raised position of FIG. 1 and lowered position. Asshown in FIG. 1, in the raised position, the siderails 48 and 50 extendabove an upper surface 52 of a mattress 54 of the hospital bed 10 whenthe siderails 48 and 50 are in a raised position. In a lowered positionan upper edge 56 of the left head siderail 48 is below the upper surface52.

The hospital bed 10 also includes a left foot siderail 58 and a rightfoot siderail 60, each of which is supported directly from the loadframe 26. Each of the siderails 48, 50, 58, and 60 are operable to belowered to a position below the upper surface 52. It should be notedthat when the head deck 28 is moved, the head siderails 48 and 50 movewith the head deck 28 so that they maintain their relative position tothe patient. This is because both of the head siderails 48 and 50 aresupported by the head deck 28.

Referring to the left head siderail 48 shown in FIG. 12, a userinterface 62 includes a hard panel 64 and a graphical user interface 66.The user interface 62 will be discussed in further detail below, but itshould be understood that the hard panel 64 provides indications to auser regarding the status of certain functions of the hospital bed 10 aswell as providing a standard set of fixed input devices. The graphicaluser interface 66 includes a touchscreen display that providesinformation to a user as well as allowing for flexible, menu driven,operation of certain functions of the hospital bed 10. The graphicaluser interface 66, also known as a flip-up display (FUD), is mounted tothe siderail 48 with a pivotable connection so that the graphical userinterface 66 may be pivoted to allow a user the more easily view andinteract with the graphical user interface 66, as is known in the art.In some embodiments, the right head siderail 50 may include a secondgraphical user interface duplicative of the graphical user interface 66.

Additional information is provided to a caregiver through an optionalindicator panel 74 which displays the status of various conditions ofthe hospital bed 10 graphically to a caregiver at the foot end 12 of thehospital bed 10. The location of the indicator panel 74 makes thestatuses of the conditions easily discernable from a distance, such thata caregiver may quickly ascertain the statuses from the hallway or thedoor of a patient's room. As will be discussed below, additionalindication of the statuses may be projected on the floor under the footend 12 of the hospital bed 10, providing larger images on the floor,making the images more easily discerned by a caregiver. Similarly, anilluminated grip 76 is positioned on the left head siderail 48, theilluminated grip 76 being selectively illuminated in different colors toprovide an indication of the status of one or more functions of thehospital bed 10 to a caregiver. In some embodiments, the right headsiderail 50 also includes an illuminated grip similar to the illuminatedgrip 76 and which includes the functionality of the illuminated grip 76.

The head end siderails 48 and 50 are configurable to provide additionalindications of the status of components of the hospital bed 10 under thecontrol of a notification system 180 by illuminating the grip 76 of thehead siderails 48, 50. The structure used to illuminate the grip 76 issimilar to that disclosed in a PCT application WO2016/196403, filed May29, 2016, titled “PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS,” and incorporated byreference herein for the disclosure of a structure for illuminating agrip of a siderail.

In operation, the grip 76 has four states, not illuminated, illuminatedin a blue color, illuminated in an amber color, or illuminated in a redcolor. In the current embodiment, the grip 76 is not illuminated in oneof two conditions: if a patient position monitoring system is disarmedand a patient is in hospital bed 10, or if the patient positionmonitoring system is armed and the patient is in the proper position inthe bed 10. The grip 76 is illuminated blue if the patient positionmonitoring system is disarmed the patient is out of the hospital bed 10.The blue illumination tends to provide additional lighting for thepatient if the ambient light is relatively low. The grip 76 isilluminated in an amber color if the patient position monitoring systemis armed and the patient is not in the proper position. This amberillumination provides an additional indication to a caregiver of thealarm condition of the patient position monitoring system. The grip 76is illuminated in a red color if the patient vital signs monitoringsystem 100 is in an alarm state, thus, providing an additionalindication to a caregiver of the alarm condition of the vital signsmonitoring system.

In the illustrative embodiment, the sensor 102 is a non-contact vitalsigns monitoring sensor available from EarlySense Inc., 135 BeaverStreet Suite 307, Waltham, Mass. 02452. It provides a signal indicativeof a detected heart rate and a signal indicative of a detectedrespiration rate that is processed by a controller supported on thehospital bed 10. The sensor 102 may be mounted in multiple locations oneither the fixed seat deck 32 or head deck 28 as suggested in FIG. 3. Insome embodiments, multiple sensors 102 may be positioned on the fixedseat deck 32 and/or head deck 28 to provide multiple detection pointswith the signals from each of the multiple sensors 102 being monitoredto determine an accurate vital sign signal. The use of redundant signalsreduces the risk of signal loss due to movement or improper positioningof the patient on the hospital bed 10. The sensor 102 has a relativelythin thickness 104 shown in FIG. 3. This thin profile permits the sensor102 to be placed under the mattress 54 and does not interfere with thefunctionality or therapeutic benefit of the mattress 54. In otherembodiments, a different piezoelectric sensor may be utilized in placeof the sensor 102.

Referring to FIG. 16, the head deck 28 is formed to include two separatepairs of holes 106 and 108 formed in a surface 110 of the head deck 28.The first pair of holes 106 is spaced a first distance 116 from a loweredge 112 of the head deck 28. The second pair of holes 108 is positioneda second distance 114 from the lower edge 112. The variation in spacingpermits the location of the sensor 102 as suggested in FIG. 3. Thedifference in spacing allows the location of the sensor 102 to beoptimized based on the size of the patient being positioned on thehospital bed 10. Better vitals detection for a smaller stature patientis achieved by positioning the sensor 102 to engage holes 108, whereasbetter vitals detection is achieved for a larger stature patient byutilizing holes 106.

Referring to FIG. 17, the sensor 102 is mounted to the head deck 28 byinserting two pegs 118 and 120 through the holes 106 in the head deck28. The pegs 118 and 120 extend through the deck 28 such that the sensoris secured by the pegs 118 and 120 throughout movement of the head deck28 between a raised and lowered position. However, the sensor 102 may beeasily removed by disengaging the pegs 118 and 120 from the holes 106.If a different location is needed, the sensor 102 can be easilyrepositioned in the holes 108 or similar holes formed in the fixed seatdeck 32.

Referring to FIG. 18, the mounting of peg 118 to the sensor 102 isaccomplished by a fastener 126 that is secured to a substrate 124 of thesensor 102. The sensor 102 includes a boss 122 that is positioned toreceive the peg 118, but be larger than the diameter of the hole the peg118 is received into such that the boss 122 engages the surface 110 ofthe head deck 28 and maintains a gap 138 between the surface 110 and asurface 140 of the substrate 124. The fastener 126 includes a threadedshaft 128 that engages a plate 136 of the sensor 102 to secure the peg118 to the sensor 102. The threads of the threaded shaft 128 do notengage with either the peg 118 or the substrate 124. The peg 118, boss122, and substrate 124 serve as a mechanical isolation structure toprevent mechanical vibrations from the hospital bed 10 to be transferredthrough the head deck 28 to the sensor 102. The fastener 126 includes ahead 130 that engages an annular surface 132 formed in the peg 118 sothat the peg 118 is clamped to the sensor 102. The fastener 126 isreceived through a cylindrical channel 134 formed in the peg 118. Thepeg 118 extends a distance 142 past the inner surface 144 of the headdeck 28. The length of peg 118 is chosen to permit a user the ability tosee the pegs 118 and 120 as they are engaged in either hole 106 or hole108.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 19, the sensor 102 may be positionedinside of the mattress 54. As a patient load 146 is applied to themattress 54, the mattress 54 deflects from an original thickness of 148to a smaller thickness of 150. The sensor 102 is positioned on a foambacking 152 which, along with a group of support bladders 154 of themattress 54, is encased in a ticking 156. The patient load 146 causesthe bladders 154 in the central portion of the mattress 54 to deflect,closing the distance between the patient and the sensor 102. The shorterdistance 150 provides for an improved detection of the vital signs beingmonitored by the sensor 102, improving the accuracy of the data providedby the sensor 102 as compared to embodiments where the sensor 102 mustdetect the vital signs through the ticking 156 and foam backing 152.

The sensor 102 is part of a detection and notification system 160 showndiagrammatically in FIG. 13. The detection and notification system 160may also be operable to monitor other conditions in the hospital bed 10as disclosed in PCT application WO2016/196403, filed May 29, 2016,titled “PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS,” and incorporated by reference hereinfor the disclosure of a structure for monitoring conditions of hospitalbed sensors and providing external notifications locally or remotely.The sensor 102 communicates through a UART connection 162 with a systemon a module device (SOM) 164. The SOM 164 is connected to andcommunicates with a master controller (MCB) 166 through a UARTconnection 168. The SOM 164 and MCB 166 are both part of the bedcontroller 165 which includes all of the functionality necessary tooperate all of the functions of the hospital bed 10. The MCB 166communicates with the graphical user interface 66 through controllerarea network (CAN) connection 170. The MCB 166 is also operable tocommunicate with a communication module (SIDECOM) 172 through aconnection 174. The SIDECOM 172 is operable to connect to externalsystems, such as nurse call systems or other hospital widecommunications systems such as the NaviCare® system from Hill-RomCompany, Inc., Batesville, Ind. This allows information regarding thevital signs detected, including alarm conditions, to be transferred toother locations in the hospital or other facility in which the hospitalbed 10 is located.

The MCB 166 also communicates with local external alarms 176 through aconnection 178. The connection 178 may be a simple UART interface, a CANinterface, a discrete wiring connection, or any other suitableconnection. The external alarm 176 includes the grip 76, an indicator78, or an illuminator 80. The illuminator 80 is operable to project animage 82 (seen in FIG. 1) onto the floor beneath the foot deck 34.Together, the MCB 166, graphical user interface 66, SIDECOM 172, andexternal alarm 176 (including the grip 76, indicator 78, and illuminator80) cooperate to form a notification system 180. Each of the connections162, 168, 170, 174, 178, and 184 may be a simple UART interface, a CANinterface, a discrete wiring connection, or any other suitableconnection as required for the particular application. Relative to thedetection and notification system 160, the MCB 166 includes theprocessor and non-transitory memory required to store instructions and,when appropriate, execute the stored instructions to operate thedetection and notification system 160. Some of the processing andinstructions may be resident on the SOM 164 as it relates to specifictasks to be executed under the direction of the MCB 166.

The SOM 164 is also operable to perform wireless communications over alink 184 to an external wireless module 186. Any information availablefrom the detection and notification system 160 may be transferred by theSOM 164 over the link 184. In addition, the link 184 may provide forwireless connectivity with the detection and notification system 160 bya user interface device, such as a laptop or tablet computer, forexample.

In operation, the notification system 180 is configurable to allow orprevent the illumination capabilities of the grip 76, indicator 78,and/or the illuminator 80. A caregiver may choose to disable theilluminated grips in the notification system 180 when the caregiverdetermines that the operation of the illuminated grip 76 is unnecessaryor would be problematic with a particular patient. Thus, the caregivercan configure the notification system 180 to monitor one or moreconditions and provide an indication to a caregiver by illuminating theindicator 78 on the foot deck 34, projecting the 82 image on the floor,and/or illuminating the grip 76. In some embodiments, the illuminationof the grip 76 in the amber color may be configured to be based on adifferent condition, such as the expiration of a time between vitalsigns checks, or any other condition of which the caregiver might needto be reminded. In addition, the illuminated grip may be illuminated inthe amber color if any of the alarm conditions of the hospital bed 10are active, the amber color providing an indication to the caregiverthen alarm condition, or a condition that does not meet a patient's careprotocol exists. When either the heart rate or respiration rate iswithin their respective limits, the notification system 180 displays theimage 82 and indicator 78 in a green color. If either the heart rate orrespiration rate is outside of an acceptable limit, the notificationsystem 180 displays the image 82 and indicator 78 in a red color. Insome embodiments, the notification system 180 displays the image 82 andindicator 78 in an amber color if one of the heart rate or respirationrate are approaching an out of limit condition. In some embodiments, theimage 82 and indicator 78 may be flashed in the appropriate respectivecolor. In some embodiments, the illuminator 80 may project an image thatcoincides with the image on the graphical user interface 66 onto thefloor so that a caregiver may be able to see the data in real time at adistance.

Referring to FIG. 4, the graphical user interface 66 displays a touchscreen 200 that includes a number of icons which may be selected by auser to control various functions of the hospital bed 10. Thefunctionality of the touch screen 200 is disclosed in the PCTapplication WO2016/196403, filed May 29, 2016, titled “PATIENT SUPPORTAPPARATUS,” and incorporated by reference herein for the disclosure of atouch screen menu structure of the hospital bed 10. In addition, priorto activation of the detection and notification system 160, the touchscreen 200 displays a home screen 201 of the present embodiment thatincludes an alarm status section 202, an information bar 204, a functionpanel 206, a home key 208, and a scrolling menu 210. The scrolling menu210 includes a vital signs monitoring button icon 212 which, whentouched by a user, activates a screen 214 shown in FIG. 20.

As shown in FIG. 20, the activation of button icon 212 causes the buttonicon 212 to be highlighted to indicate the activation of thefunctionality of button icon 212. In some embodiments, an additionalstep may be required with a user being prompted to enter an activationcode associated with the detection and notification system 160. In someembodiments, the detection and notification system 160 may be subject tothird party approval and activation similar to the approach disclosed inUS20140115784A1, filed Mar. 14, 2013, titled “CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PATIENTSUPPORT APPARATUS,” which is incorporated in its entirety herein for thedisclosure of third party function approval and billing for features ofa patient support apparatus. The screen 214 includes a heart rate statusportion 216 and a respiration rate status portion 218. As shown in FIG.20, the heart rate status portion 216 displays the current heart rate220, an upper heart rate limit 222 and a lower heart rate limit 224.When a user selects one of the upper heart rate limit 222 or lower heartrate limit 224 by touching the respective limit indicator 222 or 224, apair of arrows 226 and 228 appears as shown next to the lower heart ratelimit 224 in FIG. 20. A user selects one of the arrows 226 or 228 toadjust the respective limit 222 or 224 to the appropriate level. After aperiod with no action, the arrows 226 and 228 disappear. However, if auser selects another limit to be adjusted, the arrows 226 and 228 willdisappear from the previous limit being adjusted, and appear next to thecurrent limit being adjusted. For example, a user may adjust the lowerheart rate limit 224 and then adjust the upper heart rate limit 222.

The respiration rate status portion 218 includes a current respirationrate detected 230, an upper respiration rate limit 232, and a lowerrespiration rate limit 234. The upper respiration rate limit 232 and thelower respiration rate limit 234 may be adjusted with arrows 226 and 228as discussed above with regard to upper heart rate limit 222 and lowerheart rate limit 224. The various limits 222, 224, 232, and 234 eachrepresent bound for an alarm condition for the vital signs monitoringsystem 100. If the current heart rate 220 or current respiration rate230 are outside of respective limit 222, 224, 232, or 234, thenotification system 180 will generate alerts based on the configurationof the alerts within the notification system 180. For example, the alertcould include illumination of the grip 76 in a red color andhighlighting of the limit that is not being met, along with highlightingthe particular parameter.

The screen 214 also permits a user to activate a button icon 258 toactivate a trends function, showing the history of the patient's heartrate 220 and respiration rate 230. The trends screen 260 shown in FIG.21 provides a graphical representation of the patient's heart rate 220and respiration rate 230 along with icons that indicate when thepatient's heart rate 220 and respiration rate 230 exceeded an acceptablethreshold. The user may change the time scale on the screen 260 bypressing one of the time interval button icons 372, 374, 376, 378, 380,or 382 to show the respective time scale on the screen 260. Once a useris finished reviewing the trend data, activating the back button icon384 returns the user the previous screen. Referring again to FIG. 20,the user may also temporarily suspend the alarms by activating a buttonicon 262. The user may then be prompted to confirm the suspension. Insome embodiments, the suspension of monitoring lasts for a specificperiod, such as three minutes, for example. It is contemplated that thedata stored and displayed by the trends screen 260 may be transferredoff from the bed 10 either wirelessly through the link 184 or by wiredconnection to the controller 165.

In one example, referring to FIG. 11, when the current heart rate 220drops below the lower heart rate limit of 55, lower heart rate limitindicator 224 is highlighted as indicated by reference numeral 236 and aheart indicator 238 is highlighted in red. The respiration rate alarmcondition is indicated if the lungs icon 240 is highlighted in red. Insome embodiments, the user may be permitted to disable an activation ofthe alarm by activating an alarm icon 242 or 244 on the respectivefunction to be controlled. When the alarm is disabled, it is indicatedby a strike through as shown relative to the respiration rate alarm icon244 in FIGS. 11 and 20.

In some embodiments, when the detection and notification system 160 isactive and no data is being entered, a status screen 246 is displayed onthe graphical user interface 66 as shown in FIG. 5. The status screen246 combines the status of the detection and notification system 160 andother systems being monitored by the detection and notification system160. The status screen 246 may be presented as a default screen saverwhen the graphical user interface 66 is not being used. A risk portion256 displays various risks that the patient may be susceptible toincluding a risk related to a Foley bag being present at 258, that thepatient is at risk of falling if the patient attempts to leave the bedat 260, that the patient is at risk of developing pulmonarycomplications at 262, and that the patient is at risk of developing skininjury at 264. It should be noted that the active readings of heart rate248 and respiration rate 250 are shown darkened in FIG. 5.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a screen 266 is displayed on thegraphical user interface 66 to provide a user a quick summary of thestatus of various systems being monitored relative to the hospital bed10, while also allowing a user to adjust features of the bed 10. In theembodiment of FIG. 6, the portion is 202 shown in FIG. 4 is omitted andreplaced with a portion 268. The portion 268 includes a bed statusportion 270, a vital signs status portion 272, and a risk status portion274. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the heart rate 278 is highlighted ordisplayed in text that is different from normal, such as the manner inwhich respiration rate 276 is displayed, when the signal from the sensor102 is absent or erratic so that a user may quickly identify an issuewith the sensor 102 a correct the problem. The use of modifying thecolor of the text of a displayed value is used in various embodimentsfor identifying problems with the signal from the sensor 102. Forexample, the screen 246 is shown in FIG. 7 with the heart rate 248 andrespiration rate 250 highlighted to indicate a problem with the sensor102 reading the respiration rate 250. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8,the sensor 102 is capable of reading the heart rate 248 as indicated bythe normal presentation of the text. However, if the sensor 102 hasproblems reading both the heart rate and respiration rate, both readingswill be highlighted as indicated in display of status screen 246 shownin FIG. 7. When the sensor 102 signal is unavailable, the status screen246 also provides an indication of the last time that an accuratereading for each of the heart rate 248 and respiration rate 250, atreference numerals 252 and 254 respectively as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

In other embodiments, the status of a patient's heart rate andrespiration rate may be the only information displayed, other than thehome key 208 and scrolling menu 210. For example, FIG. 9 shows anembodiment of a status screen 280 includes the heart rate status portion216 and respiration rate status portion 218. As shown in FIG. 9, therespiration rate 230 is below the lower respiration rate limit 234 andan alarm condition exists. The entire portion 218 is highlighted alongwith a message bar 282 below the heart rate status portion 216 andrespiration rate status portion 218. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, thehighlighted areas shown in cross-hatch are displayed in red. In otherembodiments, other colors may be chosen. The alert message indicatingthe nature of the alert and the time since the alert was generated isdisplayed in the message bar 282. The user may suspend the alert for aperiod of time, 15 minutes, for example, by activating a button icon 286on the status screen 280. Otherwise, the user may accept the alert bypressing the button icon 284 and addressing the alert. The embodiment ofFIG. 10 is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 9, but indicates that asystem problem has occurred with the loss of a signal from the patientthrough a message in the message bar 282.

In some embodiments, the data available from the sensor 102 may beprovided externally through the SIDECOM 172 or the wireless link 184 tobe added to a patient's medical record in a medical records system. Thedata may be processed with other patient data to predict the potentialfor a negative outcome for the patient. The data may be provided throughthe Hill-Rom Company, Inc. NaviCare® system, for example and used formonitoring and predicting patient outcomes. In one embodiment, the datafrom sensor 102 may be used as part of the eCART algorithm developed byQuant HC and discussed in Crit Care Med. 2014 April; 42(4):841-8. If anegative outcome is predicted for a patient, the notification system 180is activated to provide a notification that specifies the particularrisk. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, a message 298 may appear at thebottom of a status screen 300 that indicates that the eCART algorithmhas predicted a potential negative outcome for the patient, therebyproviding a caregiver with an actionable indication of a risk. When suchan instance occurs, the message 298 may be accompanied by the activationof grip 76 in a red color along with illumination of the indicator 78and illuminator 80 to generate a red image 82 on the floor near the bed10. These elements would apply the currently active alert settings togenerate the alert.

In other embodiments, other algorithms may be applied either by thecontrol system of the hospital bed 10, or remotely by a healthinformation system, with the outcome of any alerts generated by analgorithm being generated following the current settings of alerts inthe hospital bed 10. For example, a screen 306 is accessible on thegraphical user interface 66 to allow a user to choose whether to: turnrespiration rate local alerts on 308 or off 310; turn respiration rateremote alerts on 312 or off 314; turn heart rate local alerts on 316 oroff 318; and turn heart rate remote alerts on 320 or off 322. Thesettings set by the user are accepted by activating the button icon 324to make the settings active.

Referring to FIG. 30, in one example a particular patient may besupported on the bed 10 and particular rate limits are determinedautomatically. For example an upper heart rate limit 424, a lower heartrate limit 426, upper respiration rate limit 428 and lower respirationrate limit 430 may be calculated algorithmically. A process 412 forautomatically determining the limits 424, 426, 428, and 430 is showndiagrammatically in FIG. 30. The process 412 includes a separatealgorithm 418 for determining the pre-set respiratory rate limits 428and 430. Similarly, a separate algorithm 422 determines the pre-setheart rate limits 424 and 426. Each of the algorithms 418 and 422 areprovided with information external to the bed 10 as represented byprocess step 416. This information may include historical informationrelative to the patient such as previous heart rate information orprevious respiration rate information. Other information may includeparticular diagnoses that affect the acceptable rate limits for theparticular patient. Still further, the external data may include thetime of day or other environmental influences that may cause theacceptable rate limits to be adjusted. In addition, each of thealgorithms 418 and 422 are provided with information internal to the bed10 as represented by process step 420. The information from the bed 10may include information related to the positions of the various sectionsof the bed 10, the therapies on the bed 10 that are active, informationfrom the load frame 26 regarding patient location and movement. The loadframe 26 of the hospital bed 10 is supported on a set of load cells 330,332, 334, and 336 (seen in FIG. 15) that provide a signal indicative ofthe patient load on the bed 10. The signals from the load cells 330,332, 334, and 336 may be used to determine a patient's total weight andmay also be used to discern a location or orientation of a patient onthe bed 10. Other sensors may also be present to provide feedbackrelative to the position of various components of the bed 10. Forexample, a patient positioned on the bed 10 with a raised head 28 mayhave a higher heart rate than a patient in fully supine position. Thecontroller 165 utilizes all of this information to determine theappropriate rate limits 424, 426, 428, and 430.

In an effort to avoid unnecessary alert conditions, detection andnotification system 160 utilizes a process 360 shown in FIG. 15 todetermine whether an alert condition is warranted. The signals from theload cells 330, 332, 334, and 336 are provided to the bed controller 165which makes a determination from the signals, using process 360. Atprocess step 362, the controller 165 reads the load cell data. The loadcell data is then analyzed at a decision step 364 to determine if apatient is supported on the bed. If the patient is determined not to bein the bed at decision step 364, then the controller 165 proceeds tostep 366, overrides the heart rate and respiration rate alertconditions, and provides a message on the graphical user interface 66that the patient is out of the bed 10. In some cases, the detection andnotification system 160 may go into an alert state relative to thepatient exiting the bed as disclosed in the earlier mentioned PCTapplication WO2016/196403. However, alerts related to vital signs wouldbe invalid and, in embodiments where the process 360 is applied, willcause the alerts to be ignored. However, if the patient is determined tobe in bed at step 364, the controller 165 proceeds to step 368 andinforms the detection and notification system 160 that vital signals areexpected from the sensor 102. The process 360 then proceeds to step 370and the detection and notification system 160 operates normally.

In some embodiments, the controller 165 may determine from the loadcells 330, 332, 334, and 336 that a patient is in a particular locationon the bed 10. If more than one sensor 102 is present on the bed 10,then the controller 165 may use the information regarding the patientlocation to discount one or more of the sensor 102 signals to ensurethat the best signal is being considered in the determination of theheart rate or respiration rate. In addition, the controller 165 mayconsider the angle of the head deck 28 in making the determination as towhich of multiple sensors 102 should be used in the analysis. Forexample, if the head deck 28 is raised to an extreme angle, then asensor 102 positioned in a back section may be discounted ordisregarded.

When a condition exists that result in the signal from sensor 102 beingof questionable accuracy, the controller 165 signals the detection andnotification system 160 of the questionable condition. The range of datathat is determined to be suspect is highlighted as suggested by thehighlighted range 386 shown in FIG. 22. The range 386 was generated inthe embodiment of FIG. 22 by an abnormal weight variation, as suggestedby the text prompt 388 in FIG. 22. A user may touch the area of thegraphical user interface 66 on which the range 386 appears to addressthe identified issue. In such a case, the graphical user interface 66 toa prompt screen, such as the screen 390 shown in FIG. 23, that explainsthe data integrity concern. The user is prompted to either accept thedata by touching an “OK” button icon 392 or rejecting the data bytouching a “Don't Record” button icon 394. If the “Don't Record” buttonicon 394 is activated, then the data is deleted from the patient'srecord as indicated by the trends screen 260 embodiment shown in FIG.24. In other embodiments, a prompt screen 396, shown in FIG. 24, may begenerated if the detection and notification system 160 determines that apatient has exited or entered the bed 10. The user may respond to theprompt of screen 396 by either accepting the data by activating thebutton icon 392 or rejecting the data by activating the button icon 394.It should be understood that other conditions that cause the data to beof questionable validity may result in other specific prompt screens,similar to prompt screens 390 and 396, may be generated to prompt theuser to record or disregard the questionable data.

The hospital bed 10 is functional without the sensor 102 and the lack ofthe presence of a sensor 102 will result in the controller 165 operatingthe graphical user interface 66 without reference to the vital signsmonitoring system 100. In other words, the button icon 212 will beomitted from the scrolling menu 210. If a sensor 102 is added to ahospital bed 10, a process 500 shown in FIGS. 31A-31C is executed by thecontroller 165 to confirm that the user has the right to use the sensor102 and vital signs monitoring system 100. The process 500 begins atprocess step 502 when the bed powers up. Upon powering up, thecontroller 165 reads the license status of the vital signs monitoringsystem 100 from a non-volatile memory location at process step 504. Atdecision step 506, the controller 165 determines whether the bed islicensed for the operation of the vital signs monitoring system 100. Ifthe bed 10 is properly licensed for the vital signs monitoring system100, then the process 500 proceeds to step 526 on FIG. 31B as will bediscussed in further detail below. If the bed 10 is not licensed for useof vital signs monitoring system 100, the controller 165 proceeds toprocess step 508 where the controller 165 reads the bed's serial numberstored in a non-volatile memory location. Once the serial number isread, the controller 165 proceeds to process step 510 and computes theproduct license key for activation of the vital signs monitoring system100. The license key at step 510 is calculated based, in part, on thebed serial number.

At decision step 512, the controller 165 monitors for the entry of alicense key by a user. The user is prompted by a prompt screen 400 shownin FIG. 26. The user may proceed to enter an activation code by touchingthe “Enter Activation Code” icon button icon 402 which causes thedisplay to proceed to screen 404 shown in FIG. 27. The user is presentedwith a QWERTY interface with an entry line 406. The user refers to thelicense key 410 on sensor 102, as shown in FIG. 28. Once the code isentered as shown in FIG. 29, the user activates the enter key on theQWERTY keyboard 408. If no key is entered, the screen 400 continues tobe displayed and the controller 165 loops the decision step 512 until alicense key/activation code 410 is entered.

Once the license key is entered, the process 500 proceeds to decisionstep 514 where the key entered is compared to the key computed at step510. If the entered key does not match the key calculated at step 510,the controller proceeds to step 516, informs the user the key is invalidand continues to monitor for the entry of a new key at step 512.

If at decision step 514 the key entered matches the key calculated atstep 510, the process 500 advances to step 518 and the sensor 102 ispowered up. The process proceeds to step 520 and the sensor serialnumber is stored in non-volatile memory. The process 500 then proceedsto process step 522 and updates the graphical user interface 66 todisplay the capabilities of the vital signs monitoring system 100 andstores the positive license status in non-volatile memory. The process500 then proceeds to step 524 shown in FIG. 31B where the controller 165waits for thirty seconds. The controller 165 then proceeds with process500 to the decision step 526 on FIG. 31B.

At decision step 526, the controller 165 confirms whether there is asensor 102 active within the vital signs monitoring system 100. If thereis no sensor 102 connected, the process 500 advances to step 528 andprompts the user that there is no sensor 102 connected. The controller165 then waits for a period of thirty seconds as indicated by processstep 530. The process 500 then returns to decision step 526 and thecontroller 165 evaluates again whether a sensor 102 is connected withinthe vital signs monitoring system 100. If a sensor 102 is determined tobe connected at step 526, then the controller 165 proceeds to processstep 532 and reads the serial number of the sensor 102 that isconnected. The controller 165 then compares the serial number of thesensor 102 to the sensor serial number previously stored in non-volatilememory at decision step 534. If the detected serial number matches thestored serial number, then the controller 165 continues to operate thevital signs monitoring system 100 as indicated by process step 548.

If the detected serial number does not match the stored serial number,then the controller 165 disables the vital signs monitoring system 100and prompts the user that the sensor 102 that is connected needs to beactivated as indicated by process step 536 in FIG. 31B. The process 500then proceeds to step 538 on FIG. 31C and computes a license key based,at least in part, on the serial number of the connected sensor 102. Theprocess 500 proceeds to decision step 540 and looks for the user toenter a license key as discussed above. If a license key is entered, theprocess 500 proceeds to decision step 542 and the controller 165determines whether the license key that has been entered matches thelicense key computed by the controller 165. If it does, the process 500advances to process step 546 and enables the vital signs monitoringsystem 100.

If the entered license key does not match the computed license key atdecision step 542, then the controller informs the user that the licensekey is invalid as indicated by process step 544. The process thenproceeds to decision step 526 to loop through the process 500, lookingfor a different sensor 102 or for the user to enter the correct licensekey.

In the embodiment discussed above, an appropriate activation/license keymay be based on either the bed serial number or the serial number of theparticular sensor 102. It is contemplated that a user will pay a fee forthe activation key for a particular sensor 102 or bed 10 with a sensor102 combination. However, in some embodiments, the activation of thevital signs monitoring system 100 may be limited and licensed to aparticular combination of bed 10 and sensor 102 such that users may notbe permitted to move sensors 102 between beds 10, without priorauthorization. In such a case, the activation/license key computed bythe controller 165 may rely on both the serial number of the bed 10 andthe serial number of the sensor 102 so that a user must enter aparticular activation code that is good for only the combination ofsensor 102 and bed 10. This is contemplated to prevent mis-use of thesensors 102 when they are beyond their useful life, or the use ofunauthorized sensors 102 which may not be of sufficient quality. Forexample, the controller 165 may perform a standard, but confidential,algorithm on one or the other of the serial numbers of the bed 10 orsensor 102 to calculate a value of a license key. In other embodiments,the serial numbers of both the bed 10 and sensor 102 may be independentvariables in a confidential equation that calculates a particularlicense key that is unique to the combination. In embodiments wheremultiple sensors 102 are present, the activation/licensing analysis maybe completed for each of the multiple sensors 102.

In implementing the detection and notification system 160, a largeamount of information is presented to the user/caregiver simultaneously,providing information at the graphical user interface 66, illuminatedgrips 76, indicator panel 74, and an image set 550 (seen in FIG. 32).While not illuminated in FIG. 31, the image set includes the image 82,along with images 552, 554, 556, and 558 that are each optionallyilluminated onto the floor 566. Referring to FIG. 33, in the disclosedembodiment, the images 552, 554, 556, 558, and an alternate image 560,similar to image 82 but positioned in a different location than theembodiment of FIG. 1, are each projected from a respective illuminator80. Referring to FIG. 36, each illuminator 80 includes a light source568 and a projector 596. The diagrammatic views of FIGS. 33 and 34illustrate how the images 552, 554, 556, 558, and 560 are projected atan acute angle 562 relative to vertical 564 in a first plane as shown inFIG. 34. In addition, the images 552, 554, 556, 558, and 560 are eachprojected at varied angles relative to vertical 564 in a second plane asshown in FIG. 33.

The variation in the projection angles of the images 552, 554, 556, 558,and 560 would normally result in distortion of the resulting image 552,554, 556, 558, and 560 on the floor 566 as illustrated in FIG. 35. Theimage shown in FIG. 35 is diagrammatic representation of the distortionexperienced by the image 554 in one embodiment. The distorted image ofFIG. 35 includes an origin 572 and a perimeter 570 that establishes thebound of the projected image 554 before a correction is applied, as willbe discussed in further detail below. The diagram of FIG. 35 includes anumber of grid bars 574, 576, 578, 580, and 582 that generally extend ina first direction. Another group of grid bars 584, 586, 588, 590, and592 generally extend in a second direction. The projector 596 is shownin further detail in FIGS. 37 and 38 and includes an image lens 598mounted to a body 600. The distorted version of image of FIG. 35 is theresulting projected image at the location of image 554 in FIG. 32, whenthe image lens 598 includes an overlay of orthogonal grid bars isprojected onto the floor 566. In other words, at the lens 598, the gridbars 574, 576, 578, 580, and 582 are all substantially parallel and thegrid bars 584, 586, 588, 590, and 592 are also substantially paralleland orthogonal to the grid bars 574, 576, 578, 580, and 582. Theprojected image, shown in FIG. 35, is distorted due the deviation of theprojection angle from vertical. The region identified by referencenumeral 596 has the same dimensions as the region 594 at the image lens598, but is distorted at the image plane/floor 566.

Referring to FIG. 38, which is a cross-sectional view of the projector596, it can be seen that light 604 enters an opening 602 in theprojector body 600. The light 604 is collected at a parabolic reflectionsurface 606 that redirects the light along a direction 608 so that thelight impinges upon the lens 598 perpendicular to a surface 610 of thelens 598. The use of the parabolic reflection surface 606 reduces lightscatter that might tend to travel in a direction that is notperpendicular to the surface 610 and create ghosting of the projectedimage.

To project a clear image at the image plane/floor 566, the imagepositioned on the lens 598 is pre-distorted to compensate for thecompound projection angle relative to vertical 564 that results from thevariation in the first plane in combination with the second plane. Inother words, when the angle of projection is not orthogonal to the imageplane/floor 566, the image positioned on the lens 598 is pre-distortedto compensate for the projection angle. As shown in FIG. 39, anundistorted pattern 612 is consistent with image 552. However, toachieve a clear image at the floor 566, a pattern 614, shown in FIG. 40,is actually used to compensate for the projection angle. In normal use,the bed 10 will be placed in the lowest position so that the standardheight of portion 38 of foot deck 34 above the floor 566 ispredetermined. The pre-distorted image of pattern 614 is optimized toprovide a clear image 552 at the standard height. The pattern ofpre-distortion for each image 552, 554, 556, 558, and 560 may bedetermined by measuring the variations exhibited by the grid bars 574,576, 578, 580, and 582 and the grid bars 584, 586, 588, 590, and 592 andmodifying the base pattern to provide a negative that is distortedproportionally to the variations found in the 574, 576, 578, 580, and582 and the grid bars 584, 586, 588, 590, and 592 as suggested by thepattern 614. Because the projection angle of each image 552, 554, 556,558, and 560 varies, the pre-distortion in each associated pattern mustbe adjusted for the specific image. Implementing such pre-distortionresults in clear images as suggested in FIGS. 1 and 32.

Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detailabove, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit ofthis disclosure as described and as defined in the following clauses andclaims.

The following clauses provide illustrative examples of the variouscombinations of elements that might be achieved by implementing theaspects of the present disclosure. The combinations described in theclauses below are illustrative only, and not exhaustive.

Clause 1

A detection and notification system for a patient support apparatuscomprising a sensor detecting a vital sign of a patient; a controlleroperable to receive a signal from the sensor indicative of the vitalsign of the patient, the controller operable to compare the vital signto pre-established limits to determine whether the vital sign is withinan acceptable range; and a notification system operable to respond tocommands from the controller to provide an indication as to whether thevital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarm conditionexists, the indication discernible by a user spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus that the detection notification system isassociated.

Clause 2

The detection and notification system of clause 1, wherein the sensorsimultaneously detects a first vital sign and a second vital sign.

Clause 3

The detection and notification system of clause 1, wherein the detectionnotification system includes a plurality of sensors simultaneouslydetecting a vital sign of the patient.

Clause 4

The detection and notification system of clause 3, wherein the pluralityof sensors each detects both a first vital sign and a second vital sign.

Clause 5

The detection and notification system of clause 4, wherein thecontroller is operable to receive a signal from the patient supportapparatus indicative of the position of a patient supported on thepatient support apparatus, the controller operable to utilize theposition of the patient to determine whether to disregard the vital signinformation from one of the plurality of sensors.

Clause 6

The detection and notification system of clause 5, wherein thecontroller is operable to prompt a user to suspend the operation of thenotification system based on the position of the patient.

Clause 7

The detection notification system of clause 1, wherein the controller isoperable to receive a signal from the patient support apparatusindicative of the position of a patient supported on the patient supportapparatus, and further operable to prompt the user to suspend operationof the notification system based on the position of the patient.

Clause 8

The detection and notification system of clause 7, wherein thecontroller is operable to receive signals indicative of the position ofcomponents of the patient support apparatus and to determine theacceptable range of the vital sign based, at least in part, on theposition of at least one of the components of the patient supportapparatus.

Clause 9

The detection and notification system of clause 8, wherein thecontroller is operable to communicate with an electronic medical recordsystem to receive information from the electronic medical record systemindicative of a medical history of a patient supported on the patientsupport apparatus and to determine the acceptable range of the vitalsign based, at least in part, on the patient's medical history.

Clause 10

The detection and notification system of clause 9, wherein thecontroller is operable to utilize the medical history of the patient toperform an algorithm that analyzes the vital sign to determine that thepatient is likely to experience an adverse event and to provide anotification discernible by a user that the likelihood of the adverseevent has reached a threshold.

Clause 11

A patient support apparatus comprising at least one sensor, the at leastone sensor operable to provide a signal indicative of a vital sign of apatient supported on the patient support apparatus, and a notificationsystem coupled to the sensor, the notification system operable toprocess signals from the sensor which provide an indication of a vitalsign to determine a vital sign, compare the vital sign to a predefinedacceptable limit, and, if the vital sign deviates from the establishedacceptable limit, provide a visual indication of the deviation byilluminating a first iconic representation of vital signs in a firstmanner, if the status of the particular component does not deviate fromthe established acceptable operating condition for that component,illuminating the first iconic representation in a second manner.

Clause 12

The patient support apparatus of clause 11, wherein the notificationsystem is operable to project the first iconic representation to asurface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

Clause 13

The patient support apparatus of clause 12, wherein the first iconicrepresentation is simultaneously illuminated on a surface of the patientsupport apparatus and projected onto the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus.

Clause 14

The patient support apparatus of clause 13, wherein the first iconicrepresentation is projected to the surface spaced apart from the patientsupport apparatus by a projector located on the patient supportapparatus.

Clause 15

The patient support apparatus of clause 14, wherein illuminating thefirst iconic representation in a first manner comprises illuminating thefirst iconic representation in a first color and illuminating the firsticonic representation in a second manner comprises illuminating thefirst iconic representation in a second color.

Clause 16

The patient support apparatus of clause 15, wherein providing the visualindication of the deviation includes simultaneously illuminating a firsticonic representation of the component on a surface of the patientsupport apparatus in a first color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the first color.

Clause 17

The patient support apparatus of clause 16, wherein providing the visualindication of the lack of a deviation includes simultaneouslyilluminating a first iconic representation of the component on a surfaceof the patient support apparatus in a second color and projecting thefirst iconic representation of the component on the surface spaced apartfrom the patient support apparatus in the second color.

Clause 18

The patient support apparatus of clause 11, wherein providing the visualindication of the deviation includes simultaneously illuminating a firsticonic representation of the component on a surface of the patientsupport apparatus in a first color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the first color.

Clause 19

The patient support apparatus of clause 18, wherein providing the visualindication of the lack of a deviation includes simultaneouslyilluminating a first iconic representation of the component on a surfaceof the patient support apparatus in a second color and projecting thefirst iconic representation of the component on the surface spaced apartfrom the patient support apparatus in the second color.

Clause 20

The patient support apparatus of clause 19, wherein the surface spacedapart from the patient support apparatus is the surface of a floor, thefirst iconic representation being projected to a position that is notdirectly below any portion of the patient support apparatus.

Clause 21

The patient support apparatus of clause 11, further comprising a frame,a barrier supported by the frame and movable vertically relative to theframe, a control system, and a user interface.

Clause 22

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein a visual indicationof the status of a patient position is provided at a foot end of thepatient support apparatus.

Clause 23

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein a visual indicationof the status of the patient position is illuminated on a floor underthe foot end of the patient support apparatus.

Clause 24

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein a visual indicationof the status of the patient position is provided by an illuminated gripon the barrier.

Clause 25

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein a visual indicationof the status of a condition of at least one feature of the patientsupport apparatus is provided at a foot end of the patient supportapparatus.

Clause 26

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein a visual indicationof the status of a condition of at least one feature of the patientsupport apparatus is provided by illuminating an indication on the floorunder the foot end of the patient support apparatus.

Clause 27

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein the patient supportapparatus includes structures which permit illumination of iconicrepresentations on the floor beneath the patient support apparatus.

Clause 28

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein the sensor isremovably supported on the frame of the patient support apparatus.

Clause 29

The patient support apparatus of clause 28, wherein the frame isconfigured to support the sensor in multiple mounting locations.

Clause 30

The patient support apparatus of clause 29, wherein the patient supportapparatus comprises multiple sensors, each sensor mounted at a differentlocation on the frame.

Clause 31

The patient support apparatus of clause 30, wherein the control systemis operable to detect a location of a patient and modify the operationof the notification system to disregard at least one of the sensorsbased on the patient location.

Clause 32

The patient support apparatus of clause 31, wherein the patient supportapparatus includes two sensors mounted on a first frame member and onesensor mounted on a second frame member that is movable relative to thefirst frame member.

Clause 33

The patient support apparatus of clause 21, wherein the patient supportapparatus further comprises a mattress supported on the frame and thesensor is located internally in the mattress.

Clause 34

The patient support apparatus of clause 11, wherein the patient supportapparatus further comprises a frame and a mattress supported on theframe and the sensor is located internally in the mattress.

Clause 35

A patient support apparatus comprising a notification system operable ofprojecting indicia indicative of a condition associated with the patientsupport apparatus, the notification system including a light source anda projector assembly, the projector assembly operable to receive lightfrom the light source and direct the light through a lens having apre-distorted negative of the indicia such that when the light passesthrough the lens, an undistorted image is projected onto a surfacespaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

Clause 36

The patient support apparatus of clause 35, wherein the projectorassembly directs the light at a projection angle that is not orthogonalto the surface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

Clause 37

The patient support apparatus of clause 36, wherein the pre-distortionof the negative of the indicia is adjusted to correspond to theprojection angle.

Clause 38

The patient support apparatus of clause 35, wherein the notificationsystem includes a plurality of light sources and a plurality ofprojector assemblies, each projector assembly associated with arespective light source, each projector assembly operable to receivelight from the respective light source and direct the light through alens having a pre-distorted negative of the indicia such that when thelight passes through the lens, an undistorted image is projected onto asurface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus, each projectorassembly projecting a respective indicia, each indicia being indicativeof a different condition.

Clause 39

The patient support apparatus of clause 38, wherein a first indicia isindicative of the condition of a patient vital sign and a second indiciais indicative of a status of a component of the patient supportapparatus.

Clause 40

The patient support apparatus of clause 38, wherein each respectiveprojection assembly projects at a projection angle that is notorthogonal to the surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus, the pre-distortion of the negative associated we eachrespective projection assembly being adjusted to correspond to theprojection angle of the particular projection assembly.

Clause 41

A patient support apparatus comprising, a controller, the controllercoupled to memory which stores a serial number for the particularpatient support apparatus, a replaceable component, the replaceablecomponent including memory which stores a serial number for thereplaceable component, and a user interface, wherein the controller isoperable to execute a process which verify that the patient supportapparatus is properly authorized to execute the functionality of thereplaceable component by detecting the presence of the replaceablecomponent, evaluating the serial number of one of the patient supportapparatus and the replaceable component and provides an indication ofthe status of the authorization at the user interface.

Clause 42

The patient support apparatus of clause 41, wherein, if the controllerdetermines that the functionality of the replaceable component is notproperly authorized, the controller is operable to prompt a user toenter an authorization code before executing the functionality of thereplaceable component at the user interface.

Clause 43

The patient support apparatus of clause 42, wherein the authorizationcode is based, at least in part, on the serial number of the replaceablecomponent.

Clause 44

The patient support apparatus of clause 43, wherein the authorizationcode is based, at least in part, on the serial number of the patientsupport apparatus.

Clause 45

The patient support apparatus of clause 42, wherein the authorizationcode is based, at least in part, on the serial number of the patientsupport apparatus.

Clause 46

The patient support apparatus of clause 41, wherein the controllermonitors for the presence of a replaceable component and regularlycompares the serial number of the replaceable component with the serialnumber of the authorized replaceable component to determine if adifferent replaceable component has been substituted.

Clause 47

The patient support apparatus of clause 46, wherein, if the controllerdetermines that a replaceable component has been substituted, thecontroller disables the functionality of the replaceable component andprompts the user to enter an authorization code for the substitutedreplaceable component at the user interface.

Clause 48

The patient support apparatus of clause 47, wherein the patient supportapparatus comprises a detection and notification system for monitoringat least one vital sign of a patient supported on the patient supportapparatus and the replaceable component is a vital sign sensor.

Clause 49

The patient support apparatus of clause 48, wherein the detection andnotification system comprises multiple sensors, each sensor beingmonitored by the controller to determine that the patient supportapparatus has been authorized for the particular sensor.

Clause 50

The patient support apparatus of clause 49, wherein the controllerprovides an indication of the status of the authorization at the userinterface.

Clause 51

A patient support apparatus comprising a detection and notificationsystem for detecting at least one vital sign of a patient supported onthe patient support apparatus, the detection and notification systemincluding a sensor detecting a vital sign of the patient, the sensor notin contact with the patient; a controller operable to receive a signalfrom the sensor indicative of the vital sign of the patient, thecontroller operable to compare the vital sign to pre-established limitsto determine whether the vital sign is within an acceptable range; and anotification system operable to respond to commands from the controllerto provide an indication as to whether the vital sign is within theacceptable range or that alarm condition exists, the indicationdiscernible by a user spaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

Clause 52

The patient support apparatus of clause 51, wherein the sensor detectsmultiple vital signs.

Clause 53

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-52, whereinthe sensor simultaneously detects multiple vital signs.

Clause 54

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-53, whereinthe sensor comprises a plurality of sensors.

Clause 55

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-54, whereinthe patient support apparatus is configured to permit a particularsensor to be positioned in any one of a number of positions on thepatient support apparatus.

Clause 56

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-55, whereinthe controller is operable to disregard the signal of a sensor.

Clause 57

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-56, whereinthe controller is operable to disregard the signal of a sensor if a thecontroller determines that a patient is not properly positioned to bemonitored by the sensor.

Clause 58

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-57, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes a user interface in communicationwith the controller, the user interface operable to provide anindication of the status of at least one vital sign of the patient.

Clause 59

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-58, whereinthe sensor simultaneously detects multiple vital signs and the patientsupport apparatus includes a user interface in communication with thecontroller, the user interface operable to provide an indication of thestatus of each detected vital sign of the patient.

Clause 60

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-59, whereinthe controller is configured to allow a user to set alarm limits for adetected vital sign.

Clause 61

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-60, whereinthe notification system operable to respond to commands from thecontroller to provide an indication as to whether a signal has been lostfrom a sensor.

Clause 62

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-61, whereinthe controller is operable to monitor the signal from the sensor anddetermine if an adverse event is likely to occur based on the signal,independently of whether the signal exceeds a pre-set limit.

Clause 63

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-62, whereinthe notification system is operable to provide an indication of thelikelihood of the adverse event.

Clause 64

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-63, whereinthe notification system is adjustable to provide local indications of acondition, remote indications of a condition, or both local and remoteindications of a condition.

Clause 65

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-64, whereinthe notification system is operable to prompt a user to either accept orrejection questionable data.

Clause 66

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-65, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes a mattress and a sensor ispositioned in the mattress.

Clause 67

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-66, whereinthe controller determines whether a particular sensor has beenauthorized for use on the patient support apparatus.

Clause 68

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-67, whereinthe controller prompts a user to enter an authorization code if aparticular sensor has not previously been authorized for use on thepatient support apparatus.

Clause 69

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-68, whereinthe controller continuously monitors to confirm that a particular sensorhas been authorized for use on the patient support apparatus and if anew sensor is substituted, controller prompts a user to enter anauthorization code if a particular sensor has not previously beenauthorized for use on the patient support apparatus.

Clause 70

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-69, whereinan alert limit for a vital sign is determined automatically by thecontroller.

Clause 71

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-70, whereinthe controller determines an alert limit for a vital sign based onpatient medical history information from an electronic medical recordsystem in communication with the controller.

Clause 72

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-71, whereinthe controller determines an alert limit for a vital sign based on basedon a bed condition.

Clause 73

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-72, whereinthe patient support apparatus comprises a siderail with a grip and thenotification system provides an indication as to whether the vital signis within the acceptable range or that alarm condition exists at thegrip by illuminating the grip in a color associated with a status of thevital sign.

Clause 74

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-73, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes a touchscreen and thenotification system provides an indication as to whether the vital signis within the acceptable range or that alarm condition exists at atouchscreen.

Clause 75

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-74, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes indicator panel and thenotification system provides an indication as to whether the vital signis within the acceptable range or that alarm condition exists at theindicator panel.

Clause 76

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-75, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes a link to an external nurse callsystem and the notification system provides an indication as to whetherthe vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarm conditionexists through the link.

Clause 77

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-76, whereinthe patient support apparatus includes a projection system forprojecting indicia to a surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus and the notification system provides an indication as towhether the vital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarmcondition exists by projecting indicia associated with the status of thevital sign on the surface.

Clause 78

The patient support apparatus of any of preceding clauses 51-77, whereinthe projection system includes a light source and a projector assembly,the projector assembly operable to receive light from the light sourceand direct the light through a lens having a pre-distorted negative ofthe indicia such that when the light passes through the lens, anundistorted image is projected onto a surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus.

Clause 79

The patient support apparatus of clause 78, wherein the projectorassembly directs the light at a projection angle that is not orthogonalto the surface spaced apart from the patient support apparatus.

Clause 80

The patient support apparatus of clause 79, wherein the pre-distortionof the negative of the indicia is adjusted to correspond to theprojection angle.

Clause 81

The patient support apparatus of any of clauses 77-80, wherein thenotification system includes a plurality of light sources and aplurality of projector assemblies, each projector assembly associatedwith a respective light source, each projector assembly operable toreceive light from the respective light source and direct the lightthrough a lens having a pre-distorted negative of the indicia such thatwhen the light passes through the lens, an undistorted image isprojected onto a surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus, each projector assembly projecting a respective indicia, eachindicia being indicative of a different condition.

Clause 82

The patient support apparatus of clause 81, wherein a first indicia isindicative of the condition of a patient vital sign and a second indiciais indicative of a status of a component of the patient supportapparatus.

Clause 83

The patient support apparatus of any of clauses 81-82, wherein eachrespective projection assembly projects at a projection angle that isnot orthogonal to the surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus, the pre-distortion of the negative associated we eachrespective projection assembly being adjusted to correspond to theprojection angle of the particular projection assembly.

1. A detection and notification system for a patient support apparatuscomprising a sensor detecting a vital sign of a patient; a controlleroperable to receive a signal from the sensor indicative of the vitalsign of the patient, the controller operable to compare the vital signto pre-established limits to determine whether the vital sign is withinan acceptable range; and a notification system operable to respond tocommands from the controller to provide an indication as to whether thevital sign is within the acceptable range or that alarm conditionexists, the indication discernible by a user spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus that the detection notification system isassociated.
 2. The detection and notification system of claim 1, whereinthe sensor simultaneously detects a first vital sign and a second vitalsign.
 3. The detection and notification system of claim 1, wherein thedetection notification system includes a plurality of sensorssimultaneously detecting a vital sign of the patient.
 4. The detectionand notification system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of sensorseach detects both a first vital sign and a second vital sign.
 5. Thedetection and notification system of claim 4, wherein the controller isoperable to receive a signal from the patient support apparatusindicative of the position of a patient supported on the patient supportapparatus, the controller operable to utilize the position of thepatient to determine whether to disregard the vital sign informationfrom one of the plurality of sensors.
 6. The detection and notificationsystem of claim 5, wherein the controller is operable to prompt a userto suspend the operation of the notification system based on theposition of the patient.
 7. The detection notification system of claim1, wherein the controller is operable to receive a signal from thepatient support apparatus indicative of the position of a patientsupported on the patient support apparatus, and further operable toprompt the user to suspend operation of the notification system based onthe position of the patient.
 8. The detection and notification system ofclaim 7, wherein the controller is operable to receive signalsindicative of the position of components of the patient supportapparatus and to determine the acceptable range of the vital sign based,at least in part, on the position of at least one of the components ofthe patient support apparatus.
 9. The detection and notification systemof claim 8, wherein the controller is operable to communicate with anelectronic medical record system to receive information from theelectronic medical record system indicative of a medical history of apatient supported on the patient support apparatus and to determine theacceptable range of the vital sign based, at least in part, on thepatient's medical history.
 10. The detection and notification system ofclaim 9, wherein the controller is operable to utilize the medicalhistory of the patient to perform an algorithm that analyzes the vitalsign to determine that the patient is likely to experience an adverseevent and to provide a notification discernible by a user that thelikelihood of the adverse event has reached a threshold.
 11. A patientsupport apparatus comprising at least one sensor, the at least onesensor operable to provide a signal indicative of a vital sign of apatient supported on the patient support apparatus, and a notificationsystem coupled to the sensor, the notification system operable toprocess signals from the sensor which provide an indication of a vitalsign to determine a vital sign, compare the vital sign to a predefinedacceptable limit, and, if the vital sign deviates from the establishedacceptable limit, provide a visual indication of the deviation byilluminating a first iconic representation of vital signs in a firstmanner, if the status of the particular component does not deviate fromthe established acceptable operating condition for that component,illuminating the first iconic representation in a second manner.
 12. Thepatient support apparatus of claim 11, wherein the notification systemis operable to project the first iconic representation to a surfacespaced apart from the patient support apparatus.
 13. The patient supportapparatus of claim 12, wherein the first iconic representation issimultaneously illuminated on a surface of the patient support apparatusand projected onto the surface spaced apart from the patient supportapparatus.
 14. The patient support apparatus of claim 13, wherein thefirst iconic representation is projected to the surface spaced apartfrom the patient support apparatus by a projector located on the patientsupport apparatus.
 15. The patient support apparatus of claim 14,wherein illuminating the first iconic representation in a first mannercomprises illuminating the first iconic representation in a first colorand illuminating the first iconic representation in a second mannercomprises illuminating the first iconic representation in a secondcolor.
 16. The patient support apparatus of claim 15, wherein providingthe visual indication of the deviation includes simultaneouslyilluminating a first iconic representation of the component on a surfaceof the patient support apparatus in a first color and projecting thefirst iconic representation of the component on the surface spaced apartfrom the patient support apparatus in the first color.
 17. The patientsupport apparatus of claim 16, wherein providing the visual indicationof the lack of a deviation includes simultaneously illuminating a firsticonic representation of the component on a surface of the patientsupport apparatus in a second color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the second color.
 18. The patient supportapparatus of claim 11, wherein providing the visual indication of thedeviation includes simultaneously illuminating a first iconicrepresentation of the component on a surface of the patient supportapparatus in a first color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the first color.
 19. The patient supportapparatus of claim 18, wherein providing the visual indication of thelack of a deviation includes simultaneously illuminating a first iconicrepresentation of the component on a surface of the patient supportapparatus in a second color and projecting the first iconicrepresentation of the component on the surface spaced apart from thepatient support apparatus in the second color.
 20. The patient supportapparatus of claim 19, wherein the surface spaced apart from the patientsupport apparatus is the surface of a floor, the first iconicrepresentation being projected to a position that is not directly belowany portion of the patient support apparatus.
 21. The patient supportapparatus of clause 11, wherein the patient support apparatus furthercomprises a mattress supported on the frame and the sensor is locatedinternally in the mattress.
 22. The patient support apparatus of clause11, wherein the sensor is removably supported on the frame of thepatient support apparatus.
 23. The patient support apparatus of claim11, wherein the notification system includes a light source and aprojector assembly, the projector assembly operable to receive lightfrom the light source and direct the light through a lens having apre-distorted negative of the indicia such that when the light passesthrough the lens, an undistorted image is projected onto a surfacespaced apart from the patient support apparatus.
 24. The patient supportapparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is coupled to memory whichstores a serial number for the particular patient support apparatus,wherein the sensor includes memory which stores a serial number for thesensor, and the patient support apparatus further comprises a userinterface, wherein the controller is operable to execute a process toverify that the patient support apparatus is properly authorized toexecute the functionality of the sensor by detecting the presence of thesensor, evaluating the serial number of one of the patient supportapparatus and the sensor and provide an indication of the status of theauthorization at the user interface.